Dudley Town

Dudleytown, sometimes referred to as the "Village of the Damned",[1] is a ghost town in Cornwall, Connecticut, founded as a small settlement in the mid-1740s.[2] Dudleytown was revitalized during the early 20th century, when new families moved in, and survives today as a forested residential community within the town of Cornwall.

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Dudleytown was never an actual town. The name was given at an unknown date to a portion of Cornwall that included several members of the Dudley family. The area that became known as Dudleytown was settled in the early 1740s by Thomas Griffis, followed by Gideon Dudley and, by 1753, Barzillai Dudley and Abiel Dudley; Martin Dudley joined them a few years later. Other families also settled there.[3]

As with every other part of Cornwall, Dudleytown was converted from forest to farm land. Families tilled the land for generations. Located on top of a high hill, Dudleytown was not ideally suited for farming. When more fertile and spacious land opened up in the mid-West in the late 19th century, and as the local iron industry wound down, Cornwall's population declined.

During the early 20th century, old farms in Cornwall were sold to New Yorkers seeking a better life in the countryside. Much of the Dudleytown area land was acquired by the Dark Entry Forest Association, which planted thousands of trees. During the 1930s, New York's Skidreiverein Club spent their winter weekends skiing on trails they built in Dudleytown; in the summers, they canoed down the Housatonic River.[4]

The town's abandonment has meant that barely any ruins of the original township survive.[5] The land on which Dudleytown used to stand is now in private ownership, and entry is forbidden.[1]

According to local legend, the founders of Dudleytown were descended from Edmund Dudley, an English nobleman who was beheaded for treason during the reign of Henry VII. From that moment on, the Dudley family was placed under a curse, which followed them across the Atlantic to America. Several residents of Dudleytown are said to have gone insane, and two local women, Mary Cheney and Harriet Clarke, are said to have committed suicide,[6] the latter having reported visions of demons prior to her death.[2]

However, this version of events is much disputed, and a number of factual inaccuracies have been highlighted by local authors and historians. For instance, there is no evidence of a genealogical link between the founders of Dudleytown and the nobleman Edmund Dudley; Mary Cheney, who had in fact never set foot in Dudleytown, did not kill herself but died of lung disease; Harriet Clarke did commit suicide, but in New York, not Dudleytown; and most of the cases of "insanity" were more likely senility brought on by old age.[6][7] The real reason for the town's desertion may be that it was built too far from a source of clean water, and on land that was not suited to cultivation. It has also been speculated that the groundwater in the area was contamined with lead.[1]

Footage has purportedly been captured of restless spirits in the area[8] and hikers have reported seeing orbs in the area.[1] Visitors claim that the area is unusually quiet and without wildlife,[1] although in 2002, a writer for the National Geographic reported seeing plenty of bird life in the area.[6]

An independent film about Dudleytown, called Dudleytown Curse - The 49th Key is currently in post-production. In December 2011, eight members of the cast and crew were arrested by Connecticut State Police for allegedly trespassing on private land that comprises Dudleytown.[9]

Edward Comfort Starr (1926). A History of Cornwall, Connecticut. Tuttle, Morehouse and Taylor. pp. 26–27. This book relates the story of the Dudleytown curse, and may have been the inspiration behind later accounts.